A surprisingly simple decision-making tool shows promise as a way for physicians to identify people with depression.

An answer to the first of four questions was all that researchers usually needed to identify women who weren’t depressed, say psychologist Mirjam Jenny of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and her colleagues. Using all four questions, this tool spotted depressed women about as well as two more-complex methods, Jenny’s team reports June 24 in the Journal...